Oh, Baby!
By Christa TerryNursery furniture makes me giggle. The individual using said furniture will not remember it — they’ll only ever see it in pictures. If they don’t grow out of the cutesy-poo patterns when they graduate to their first big kid bed, they will sure as sugar get mighty sick of it when the first pangs of puberty hit.
Then again, even though The Beard and I are skipping the nursery — babies bunk in my home office until they’re ready for proper rooms — I still love to look at all the sets of baby bedding and the cribs, changing tables, and accessories. My rational brain says we don’t actually need them. My lizard brain says “Aren’t there some small expenses we could put off, like making the upstairs bedrooms livable or paying off our student loans?” Thankfully, my rational brain wins every time and I can browse for baby without actually buying.
…of course, sometime it is an epic battle. Right now, in particular, I’m digging on some of the unisex baby gear from NoJo.
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:29 am
It’s a relief to hear that I’m not the only person thinking about what baby gear she can live without. From reading all the mommy-to-be forums and blogs online you’d think stocking up on every classification of baby-related item was a requirement! I’d love to hear more about your plans and what other items you think are necessary and which of the rest are not.
February 23rd, 2009 at 11:59 pm
All those deluxe crib sets look even more odd to me, once I learned that you’re not even supposed to USE any of it in the first few months!
We’re also doing a combined office/nursery, and even then it won’t be prepared for several months after she’s born. Right now it’s still box storage from when I moved in after our wedding last spring. But I figure it’s better for babies to sleep in our room the first month or two anyway, right? Um, RIGHT??
And P.S. Congrats to you — hope she’s growing and flourishing!
February 24th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I’m curious on how you plan on getting around the crib thing — it makes sense that P. could be in a bassinet for the first few months, but what will be the sleeping arrangement after she outgrows the bassinet but is still too small for a real bed?
And that hamper IS cute — and it’s not like you couldn’t use it long after babyhood. 😉
February 24th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Atomic Bombshell: The nurses in the NICU say that all you really need is the hygeine stuff (diapers, etc.), feeding supplies (breast, bottle, or both), clothes, a safe sleep set-up, and love. The rest you can kind of wing, like toys and a diaper hamper (the diaper consultant recommended getting a garbage can from Home Depot, seriously), etc. I figure the nurses know what they’re talking about, so we have a crib in my office and a bassinet/co-sleeper in the bedroom, stuff to clean her, a car seat, a sling carrier, and clothes. That’ll do for now, I think, and we’ll figure out what we need as she grows.
Tara: Having a baby sleep close by is good if no other reason than that whoever is feeding doesn’t have to go very far 🙂 And Paloma is doing well, though still in the NICU. We’re looking forward to when we can bring her home!
La Petite Acadienne: The crib is actually in my office! The bassinet doubles as a co-sleeper, so that’s next to the bed. That way I can work and watch her and she’ll have two places to sleep.
February 24th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Ah, now I get it! I thought you were saying that you didn’t actually need a crib, and I was thinking, “How in the hell is she going to manage THAT?” 🙂
I agree about having the bassinet in the bedroom — I’m hoping to breastfeed, so it makes a lot more sense to have the baby as close as possible. But yeah…there’s so much stuff that is tempting to buy. A dear friend of mine works at Restoration Hardware and is enticing me with all of their wonderful baby items (and her employee discount.) It’s really difficult to resist turning the baby’s room into something from a magazine, isn’t it?